November 2006 archive

Red Hat Film: ‘Truth Happens’

I thought it might be fun to try hosting one o’ thems fancy YuuuwToob videos here. Don’t know if it’s something I’ll want to do that often. I’m leery of relying on another web site to provide a major component of a post, especially in this case where I don’t know how long-term I can depend on a YouTube video to be available with all the take-downs happening and sure to come. I’d hope that the owner of the copyright on this particular clip wouldn’t demand its removal, but you never know. Another potential problem: Can you even view YouTube videos with free software?

This is a companion piece to this week’s Free Software Magazine entry, and related to the Gandhi quote in this recent post. Beyond that, I’ll let …

Spirit of system76

Sometimes, giving away free stickers can get you a $500 sale.

I hadn’t heard of system76 before coming across a post at the Ubuntu Blog back in August. It mentioned free (as in free beer!) stickers, courtesy of the folks at system76. Well, actually for the low low price of a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

But look! My $0.78 investment got me four of these neat “powered by: ubuntu linux” stickers. Coincidentally just the right size to replace a “Designed for Microsoft Windows XP” sticker, or whatever.

I didn’t know what I’d do with them. Pop one on the box if I ever got an Ubuntu system going, of course. Mainly I sent in for them because they looked cool and appealed to …

‘Then They Fight You’

Busy week here with a funeral in Thief River Falls and a sick baby upon returning home, so please forgive one of those less-value-added posts where I just point to someone else who has more interesting things to offer.

Tim Lee over at The Technology Liberation Front often has great things to say for software freedom and against software patents. Writing yesterday about the Microsoft/Novell deal and subsequent Steve Ballmer chest-thumping:

I think this is a case where language has become a serious impediment to clear thinking about these issues. When Ballmer says that Linux “uses our patented intellectual property,” he almost certainly does not mean that Linux is in any way derived from Microsoft products, or that the people making Linux have somehow been free-riding off of

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Friday Photopost: Beach on the Island Kauai

Ah… the beautiful beaches of Hawai’i…

…and palm trees…

Standard Notice: Taken with my two-megapixel Olympus camera. Pictures link to 1600×1200 “wallpaper” versions. Please feel free to make use of these pictures under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license.

Ubuntu/Xubuntu Live CDs

I mentioned that I tried running Xubuntu GNU/Linux from a CD (a Live CD, I guess you call this kind of thing). I had been seeing these CDs of the various Ubuntu systems and the exhortation to try them without having to install anything. I was skeptical about how well that would work.

Well, it worked great. I wasn’t even sure if my old machine would boot from a CD, but it started up with no problems. (And with plenty of screen resolutions to choose from, which was nice after my earlier travails.) I didn’t do much other than verify Firefox could get to the Internet and that OO.o Calc …

Free Tanks for Everyone! Good Gas Mileage.

Originally published in Free Software Magazine, 6 November 2006.

I’m guessing many FSM readers will recognize the title reference, if like me you’re a fan of Neal Stephenson’s work. If you’re not a fan, then… er… how could you not be?! I’m kidding. I realize tastes differ, but to me, Stephenson is essential geek reading.

His essay, In the Beginning was the Command Line, has been around for several years now. It’s showing some age in areas, but it reads as well today as it did back in 1999. It’s filled with interesting ideas and thoughts about technology and culture, including free software. For example, you don’t have to read very far …